A Scattered Dream That's Like A FarOff Memory
by themisadventuresof
Summary: After Kingdom Hearts II, everything went back to normal. But just as Radiant Garden's true name was forgotten, so was a girl. And she's coming back in pieces in Leon's dreams. Leon tries to find out who she is. Pairings: SQUINOA
1. Someone Unknown

Yo, I left my old story unattended to for a while to start this. Yaaaaaaaayyyay! Yayayayyaya! Weeeeeeeeeeeee! Wait, when Cloud and Leon are talking telepathically, the words are italic. Okay, on to the story!

"Squall, help me!" cried a voice.

"I'm coming, hold on!" eighteen year old Leon cried.

"SQUALL!" the voice cried again.

"Squall! Squall! LEON!"

Leon woke up with a start in his bed. He was no longer in old Radiant Garden that was being attacked by thousands and thousands of Heartless.

"Wake up, Squall!" Yuffie cried.

Leon rubbed his head.

"It's Leon," he said.

"_Right, _hey, you sleep with your shirt off?" Yuffie asked with no shame.

Leon was annoyed. "Whatever, how did you even get in my house?"

Yuffie smiled and took something from behind her back. It was his house key, the old one he lost.

"_You _had it all along?" he asked angrily.

Yuffie was grinning. She just left for his room door and said, "WAKE UP! Aerith's made a huge breakfast to celebrate Sora's big save of the worlds." She slammed the door behind her.

Aerith set the outdoor table that was so rarely used for breakfast. He table was filled with the tastiest dishes Aerith had ever cooked.

"Mmmmmm, beef rice balls!" Sora exclaimed.

"Clam stew!" Donald shouted.

"Gwarsh, chicken tuna salad!" Goofy said so ever ready to dig in.

"Oh, no," Aerith said.

"What's wrong, Aerith?" Donald asked.

"It's just that… oh, where's Cloud?"

They all looked around at the table. Indeed, there was no Cloud.

"Tifa, have you seen him?" Sora asked. Tifa shook her head. "CLOUD?" Aerith called.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," said a voice from somewhere around the marketplace. Then, Cloud came.

"I called you first, how is it that you're _still _the latest?" Aerith asked him.

"You weren't even ready yet when you called," Cloud sighed.

"But you're favourites were already on the table," Aerith said.

"If I actually settled down, all my favourites would be _gone _by now," Cloud said. Aerith giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

Leon was deep in thought. He was thinking about his weird dream. The girl screaming for his help, using his old name instead of his new one. Fear was crowded in her eyes just as much as her tears. He had to save her but he couldn't. Who _was _she exactly? What connection did she have with him?

"What's wrong, Leon?" Donald asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing,' Leon said.

"I sure hope not," Kairi said.

Suddenly, Leon's head dropped on the table and started to dream again.

"Isn't this nice, Squall?" the same girl from his past dream asked.

"Sure is," Leon said. Again, Leon was in his eighteen year old form.

"Squall, this is the most romantic night of my life yet," that girl said sweetly.

Leon was about to say something but couldn't.

"LEON!" cried a familiar voice.

Leon opened his eyes. It was Aerith. Everybody was crowded around him.

"What happened?" Riku asked.

Leon put up his head from the table and rubbed it. "I… I don't know," Leon said.

"Seriously, what _is _wrong?" Cloud asked.

"I don't know."

"What happens when you doze off?" Aerith asked.

"I… dream," Leon said.

"About what?" Sora asked.

"About… this girl."

Everybody except Leon exchanged glances.

"So, who's the lucky lady?"

Leon shook his head. "I don't know," he said.

"How can you not know?" Yuffie asked.

"I don't know, I just dream about me and her, and she calls me _Squall_," Leon explained. "Also, the 'me' she's with is still the eighteen year old me. And in my other dream, she was surrounded by Heartless and I tried to save her… and…."

Aerith silenced Leon with a worried 'Leon, you've gone crazy' look. "Maybe you should just continue sleeping," Aerith said.

Cloud and Leon always had this type of psychic connection. "_Dude, what's up?_" Cloud asked psychically.

"_How should I know?_" Leon said back to him.

"_Maybe you should talk to Namine,_" Cloud

suggested.

"_Why?_" Leon asked.

"_I don't know, I was bored and didn't know what to say,_" Cloud said.

Leon just sighed. Aerith thought it was because he had to go back to sleep.


	2. Scattered Dreams

Leon didn't go back to bed he couldn't. Not with a huge un-answered question stuck in his head. So, Leon went over to Merlin's house after the not-so-ruined-but-still-ruined breakfast. Cid was at the computer as always, Merlin was browsing his bookshelf for a book to read, Aerith was cleaning up the mess that was always there, Yuffie was using her paddleball and Donald and Goofy were waiting for Sora to come out of Winnie the Pooh's book.

"Leon, didn't I tell you to go to bed?" Aerith asked. She put her hand on Leon's forehead to check if he was sick. Leon pushed her away immediately.

"Where's Cloud?" Leon asked. Everybody shrugged. _So stupid, Cloud's always at one place_, Leon thought. He left and slammed the door behind him.

"Gwarsh," Goofy said.

Leon went over to the marketplace. Across from where he was standing now, stood Cloud watching the castle. He looked like he was thinking.

_Perfect timing, Leon_, Leon thought to himself.

He walked down the stairs to the centre and went up the stairs that leads to the other side. There, was Cloud.

Leon got Cloud by surprise when he said his name telepathically.

_CLOUD! _Leon said in his mind. Cloud turned around in shock. When he saw who it was, he turned back. "What do I do, Cloud?" Leon asked. "Everybody thinks Im nuts."

Cloud nudged Leon at the shoulder. "You _are _nuts," he said. "I mean, who dreams of someone they don't even know?"

Leon shrugged. Then he joined Cloud looking at the castle in thought.

Suddenly, Leon's head fell down to the railing that his arms were leaning on. His eyes were heavy.

"Leon?" Cloud shouted to him. "Leon, what's wrong? Leon!"

Leon's eyes were heavy. Cloud's face got fuzzy and so did everything else. Then, Leon's eyes closed. He was dreaming again.

"What's your name?" younger Leon asked.

"It's Rinoa—."

All of a sudden, Leon felt a cold splash on him. His eyes opened.

"Phewh," Cloud said as Sora and Donald put their weapons down from casting fire and blizzard together.

"_Never _do that again," Cloud told him. You could tell that he was worried when Leon dropped.

"Dreams again?" Sora asked him.

Leon nodded. His head was throbbing. Cloud was panting. Leon guessed that it was because he had to run for help.

"About?" Leon turned away from exhausted Cloud.

"Her," Leon said.

"You still don't know who she is, huh?" Sora said. "That's hard to deal with. If I had those dreams and still didn't know who she was, I'd scream, okay not really."

Leon was staring into space.

'_Wonder if he even heard me?_' Sora thought to himself. Cloud snapped his fingers several times in front of Leon's face before he snapped out of it.

"Huh?"

Sora facepalmed. "Do you know who she is?" Sora asked in an annoyed tone.

Surprisingly, Leon nodded.

"Who?" Sora asked anxiously. Leon was staring into space again. Sora waved his hand in front of Leon's face. Leon got out of it.

"Uh—Rinoa," he said.

Sora exchanged amazed looks with Donald and Goofy.

Cloud wasn't very shocked, instead he was curious. "Who's Rinoa?" Cloud asked.

Leon mindlessly shrugged.

"What's wrong with you?" Cloud asked annoyed. "Why do you keep staring into space?" Leon shrugged the exact same way as he did before.

Cloud sighed.

"Cloud!" cried a voice from below.

Cloud peered down the railing. It was Aerith, and Yuffie was with her. Aerith rushed up the stairs. Aerith kissed Cloud on the cheek in greeting.

"I heard that Leon dozed off again," she said.

Cloud nodded. Aerith turned to Leon who was still gazing into space.

"What happened?" Aerith asked.

Suddenly, Sora spoke. "More importantly, what was your dream about?" Sora asked. Leon didn't answer.

Out of the blue, Leon said something unrelated. Or was it? "A scattered dream is like a far off memory," Leon said still staring at nothing. "A far off memory's like scattered dream. I want to line the pieces up. Yours and mine."

Sora would say that last time when he couldn't remember anything. Because of that, Sora was shocked when Leon said that.

Sora knew why Leon said his own phrase, because it was _completely _related. "_What_? That was so random!" Yuffie said.

Sora shook his head. "No, it wasn't," Sora said.


	3. Yuffie In Trouble

Sora and the gang returned to Merlin's. Except Cloud, Aerith and Leon.

"Leon, you _have _to go to bed," Aerith demanded. "And _maybe_ if you go to bed, you'll get an _un _-scattered dream about that girl. With no interruptions? Since we won't disturb you." Aerith's voice had the 'deal' tone.

Leon sighed. He glared at Aerith and then walked away home.

"Nice," Cloud said as he watched Leon walk off.

Aerith giggled and put her hands on Cloud's shoulder to turn him around to face her. She kissed Cloud gently on the lips. "How 'bout you come over to _my _house and I'll cook you a nice, fancy dinner," she said. Cloud smirked.

"That sounds great," Cloud said and then leaned closer for another kiss.

LATER AT LEON'S HOUSE

Leon was in bed. He turned to his left. On the bedside table sat a clock. It was 7p.m. Leon groaned and pulled off the covers. He got up and redressed. He went down. In the kitchen, stood _Yuffie _at the countertop making herself a cup of coffee?

"Yuffie!" cried Leon from the stairs.

Yuffie jumped and turned around in shock.

"_What _are you doing here?"

Yuffie giggled nervously. Yuffie was hoping for Leon to roll his eyes and go back to normal, but he didn't.

"You can't get out of this, Yuffie. Not this time."

He was coming closer to her. His face was full of annoyance and anger. "Where are my keys?"

Yuffie opened her mouth. She wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

"Yuffie, _answer me_."

Yuffie gulped. Leon was coming closer. Yuffie was backing away. Finally, her back reached the countertop. Leon lifted his hand.

Yuffie squeezed her eyes shut. She was deep in thought. '_This is the end of me,_' she thought. '_He'll never let me into his house. Ever._' Suddenly, something popped into her terrified brain.

Yuffie reached for her pocket. Inside were her shurikens. She took one out and threw it towards the wall. It stuck onto it. Leon turned around and then turned back.

"Okay, that's it!" Leon shouted.

He reached for his gunblade that leaned against the kitchen wall. He grabbed it and lifted it to attack but suddenly, the door bell rang. Leon turned around.

"Leeeeooonn!" cried a voice from outside.

Leon turned back to Yuffie and glared. He pointed to her and said, "Don't-move." He put his gunblade down.

Leon turned back and went towards the door. He opened it. It was Sora, Donald and Goofy. Sora waved to him. Leon waved back. Sora's hands were behind his back. Wonder what's behind it? Sora took his hands out. Inside them was a gift basket.

"We wanted to check on you," Sora said.

"Aerith told us to," Donald added.

Goofy nodded. Leon sighed and let them in.

"Ooooooh! Aaaaaah!"

Leon rolled his eyes.

"Hi, Yuffie!" cried all three of them.

"Hey, what's Yuffie doing here?" Sora asked suspiciously after realizing that this was Leon's house. "Is there something going on between you two? Something _romantic_ and—."

Leon cut Sora off with a serious NO.

Suddenly, Leon saw something in Yuffie's hand. His house keys.

'_IDIOT!_' Leon thought to himself. He snatched the keys from her.

"You'll never get back into my house again, Yuffie Kisaragi." Leon kept it in his pocket.

"Are you _sure _it's not something roman-."

Leon cut Sora off again. "NO. Now, thanks and I'm fine, so see you tomorrow or something," Leon said as he pushed Sora and friends towards the door. "Okay, bye!" Leon got them out the door and slammed it shut before they could say anything.

Yuffie was thinking. '_Hmmm… Leon __**is **__pretty cute…_' Yuffie thought. '_But…_' She stopped her dreamy thoughts about Leon when she realized that he was staring at her. His face was _super _annoyed and he was very angry.

"Out."

Yuffie tried to protest but couldn't. She tried to speak but no sound came from her mouth.

'_Okay, Yuffie. Listen up, you __**cannot **__like him! He's your friend_,' she thought to herself. '_Now, just walk away towards the door and..._' The door was open for her. She walked out slowly and the second her foot was outside…

"Goodbye, Yuffie." The door slammed shut.

'_Some friend, so cruel to me…'_

The following day, Yuffie was deep in thought and wonder.

'_Will Leon let me in his house again?_' she asked herself. '_Will we still be friends? Does Leon like me in __**that **__kind of way?_' Yuffie sat on the railing as she looked up to the sky in wonder. '_Plus… who's that girl in his dreams?_'

"Wussup, Yuffie," Cloud said as he came near.

"Nothing much," she replied. "Hey, Cloud. You're close to Leon, right?"

Cloud nodded.

"Did he tell you about all of his dreams about that girl?"

Cloud shook his head. Yuffie sighed in disappointment. Will she ever know? And will she ever get rid of that icky _liking _feeling towards Leon?


	4. Engulfed By Darkness

**A/N: SO sorry for the LONGEST cliffhanger ever and a bad chapter four. So here I am to remake it. You see, I felt so bad about this fic so I just remade chapter four to make it longer, better, etc. Please enjoy, read and review! ;)**

(Leon's part of view)

_In the darkness… running… running down an invisible road… running into nothing… blank, empty… I'm running to eternal darkness… I'm lost… And a voice just keeps ringing in my head. "The darkness is where I am… the darkness, Squall… the darkness is scary… help me, please!" And I just keep running… trying to find the voice… her voice…_

"Where are you_?" I mutter. And I say it again, but louder. "_WHERE ARE YOU?_ …_Rinoa_…"_

"In the darkness," she says.

"_Where?" I ask again. But this time she just keeps chanting,_

"Darkness… darkness everywhere. Can't get out… can't get out…_Squall…_"

_I want to find her. I want to save her… I want to see her. Who is she? How does she know me? What does she want from me? I want to find her… I want to get her _out _of the darkness and meet her… and ask her all my questions… I want to know… who she is. _

"_Please, please, let me know where you are," I say. But she just continues chanting quietly – whispering. Whispering my name… whispering…_

"Darkness… darkness everywhere. Can't get out… can't get out…_Squall_…"

"LET ME KNOW_!" I shouted into the surrounding darkness… into nothing… "_PLEASE_! WHERE ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU? _PLEASE_! I WANT TO KNOW!"_

_But all she does is continue her annoying chant. Whispering… whispering in that empty voice of hers. A voice… a voice without a body. I gave up. And I fell to my knees. But when I dropped to the ground, the ground had disappeared… I fell down. Down, down, down… I hear the sound of voices and music. And I keep falling. I close my eyes as I fall into the darkness, listening to the music. To the voices. Then I hear Sora. Sora's voice. Then comes Aerith's and Cloud's. Where are they? Their voices grow louder and the music fades. I stop falling and now I'm floating. Their voices grow clearer and clearer and now it's as if the music has gone. All other voices gone, only Sora's, Aerith's and Cloud's remained._

"_LEON! LEON! LEON!" they're shouting._

"LEON!"

I stirred. I woke up. It was all just a dream. Rinoa… the darkness, all just a dream. I looked around, seeing Sora, Aerith and Cloud, worry on all of their faces. And for some reason, I feel like asking the most stupid question and acting like I don't know what's going on. But I know _exactly _what's going on. I fainted. I wasn't sleeping. I was unconscious and they all saw me lie down on the floor of Merlin's place, not moving. Like I was dead. And then I follow my stupid wants.

"What happened?" I asked.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Sora said. "YOU FAINTED AND YOU WERE MUTTERING THINGS! DARN IT, LEON! YOU SCARED US ALL HALF TO DEATH! It was so scary – you-you were muttering things like 'darkness' and 'where are you' and 'can't get out' and you kept saying one thing especially. 'Rinoa'."

And then I felt the urge to see Yuffie. I felt that she had something important. She knows something, I think. She has to. But… I shooed her out yesterday night. But we're still friends. She'll talk to me. After all, if I were her, _I'd _be the one scared of talking to the other… wait, am I still making sense..?

I stand up in an attempt to start searching for Yuffie. But she comes in the house. She skipped towards Aerith and shouted out, "HAAAAY, GUYS! Hi, Leon, why're you so pale?"

"He fainted and scared us all half to death," said Cloud.

"WHAT? And nobody called me?" Yuffie said. "Are you okay? Are you sick? Do you need ASSISTANCE?"

She started to shake my shoulders, making me feel queasy. I pushed her off and went straight to the point. "Yuffie, do you know anything about a girl named Rinoa?"

She shakes her head. Then she changed the topic. "Hey, did you know the Crystal Fissure's entrance is covered by crystals today? So weird. 'Coz, it's like, a sudden crystal-slide! Weird, huh?"

I then felt a tingle in his stomach. I felt like going to the Crystal Fissure. What's there? I asked his tingle. The tingle didn't answer, it just kept on tingling. It got control of me. And I left for the door. I ran out and ran towards the Crystal Fissure. I ran and ran. Then I reached the blocked entrance – but how can I call it an entrance? There wasn't any. I pushed all the crashed rocks out of the way and climbed inside. The inside was cramped. I had to crawl. Then, my hand felt something cold and it didn't feel like the rest of the ground. I looked down. I saw a shimmer of gold.

I pushed the dust and sand off, trying to find what it was. Finally, I found a golden locket with the initials 'R.H.' engraved into the gold. I grabbed it off the ground and changed my position into a sitting position. I opened it and saw a picture of a girl with long black hair, wearing a long, sleeveless, blue-hued duster sweater. She had dark brown eyes, a few caramel highlights in her hair and she was wearing a necklace around her neck.

The picture was dented and crumpled around the edges. I used my fingers and flipped over the picture and saw the initials 'R.H. + S.L.' and a heart around it. I-is that… _my _initials after R.H.? Rinoa… Rinoa… Rinoa Howillieverknowyourlastname. Rinoa… Rinoa… Then I heard… a whisper coming from behind me.

"_Heartlilly."_

"Rinoa Heartilly," I said aloud.

Then, I heard voices. To be specific, Sora's, Goofy's and Donald's voices. All of them were calling my name, searching for me. Damn. I hope they won't find me… but they do. I hear something break – a crystal, probably. Too heavy for them to lift, and they dropped it by accident.

"Oops, sorry about that," I heard Goofy apologize.

"Hmm… I think you're on to something there…" Sora said. And I heard more crystals break. CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! All of them falling onto the ground. My mind starts to slip away, into another weird dream. But I don't let it. I'm here. Here in the Crystal Fissure, waiting for Sora to find me. I'm not in the darkness of my mind, I'm here. Awake.

CRASH! "LEON!" they cry. CRASH! "LEON!" CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! "LEEEEONNNNN!" CRASH! Falling, they continue to fall. Falls… fall and break… lose existence… CRASH! More falling… my mind starts to slip again, but I resist. I shake my head and continue to wait. Then finally, all three of them appear on their hands and feet, crawling like I was.

"Leon!" Sora exclaimed.

"We found you!" Donald cried.

I don't say anything. I look down and stare at the locket. Rinoa, I thought. Rinoa, please, where are you? In the darkness? Are you still there? How can I help? I want to find you and ask you all my questions. How did we meet? Why am I only starting to remember you now, in my dreams?

Then Goofy's shoulder accidentally banged into the crystal walls. CRASH! The crystals collapsed onto the floor and crashed. I then started to imagine multiple crashes. All falling, crashing. I watch the imaginary crystals fall, but my eyes see it in slow motion. Falling… slowly… all the fake crushed crystals lose existence. Slowly, falling, slowly… my mind slips away, but now I let it.

The last things I see before I fall unconscious are Sora's, Donald's and Goofy's faces. Taking up the whole place. Only the three of their faces. My vision started to get blurry. Then there are multiple Soras, Goofys and Donalds. "LEON! SNAP OUT OF IT!" their voices cry but their voices are muffled. Their voices… so far away… my mind's running away from them, and I let it. I let it go far, far away from them – from reality.

_And she's there. Right in front of my very eyes – Rinoa Heartilly. With her beautiful, deep brown eyes staring into mine. She smiled. I smiled back. Then she stopped and frowned. I frowned back at her. "Why… why didn't you save me…? I-I thought you loved me… Why…"_

_Music… I hear music… I looked around…. But there's no sign of where it's coming from… I look back, she's gone. Disappeared… into thin air – into the darkness… but… I can still hear her voice, whispering. "_The castle, the library, the library_," she whispers._

"_The one under construction?" I hear myself ask._

_She doesn't say anything, but I hear something brush against my shoulder. So light, so soft… I… I want to find out… The library… The library… There's no more library… Then I say it aloud: _"There's no more library. _It's destroyed."_

"The study… _Ansem's study… like everything else was… it's there… all there… everything you want to know…" I hear her voice whisper._

_I can't stand it anymore. I turn around, but she's nowhere to be seen. Out of sight, without a trace. Where are you? I feel burning hot tears on my cheeks. I'm crying… Why am I crying… I let them run down, and fall. But they don't land on the ground… they don't land on anything… they fall, and fall, and fall… they'll forever be falling down… until… they disappear… until their water evaporates by the sun… but… there isn't any sun… not in the darkness there isn't…_

_I wonder… I wonder as I float in the darkness… And then I realize… how dark the darkness is… how dark… I can't see anything… it's pitch black in here… then I look down at my hands… they're not there… then I lift my left hand to feel my right hand… it _is _there… I just can't see it… maybe Rinoa's still there… but I can't see her… _

_But wait… how come I could see her before? …I didn't see her before. I saw her in my mind's eye… That means… she's always been there… in the darkness. She never disappeared. She was always there, but I couldn't see her... ARGH! I feel so stupid, so guilty... where are you? I reached out in the darkness, hoping to feel her touch... but nothing..._

_ Then I felt something... something warm... so warm... hot... burning my skin... something, something holding my hand so tightly... it felt so painful, burning... scorching hot... so, so painful... burning my skin... but I don't react. I let it burn... ngh... the grip is too tight, so I tried to get out... struggling... then, slowly, the grip loosens... releasing me... I see her again, in my mind's eye... vivd images crossing through my mind... as quick as lightning._

_ Then I hear her voice: "Come on, Squall! How old are you? You're still a teenager - why don't you act like one for a change?"_

_ "Y'know, when you start thinking, you tend to frown like this," I hear her say._

_ Then I felt something piercing sharp on my forehead. I touch it, and feel something wet and sticky. Blood... So painful, so painful... I tried screaming in pain, but nothing comes out of me. Silenced._

_ I then hear a giggle. Rinoa's giggle. So happy, cheerful... I smiled at the mere thought of her happiness and joy. I no longer feel the aching of my head._

_ "Didn't know you could smile!" her voice teases._

_ Warm. Tingle. Delight. Something so sweet... I can feel it on my lips... her kiss, so sweet and nice... so warm... but I barely know her, my thoughts say. To want to kiss a stranger is downright odd. Then I remember Cloud's words from before..._

_ "You can't want to be with someone you don't even know," he says. "Can you? A bit weird."_

_ I nod. It _is _weird, but I think that I _know _Rinoa... or at least, knew... These images... these scattered dreams... they're not dreams of any random person, they're memories of someone I knew, someone I cared for... someone... someone I... then I feel something in my heart... something warm and tingly... like... someone I really liked..._

_ "Oh, Squall," I hear Rinoa's voice ring in my ears. "'I really like you'. Can't you just say 'I love you'? I can... because I do..."_

_ Memories of someone I _loved_. Someone I really loved..._

_ I hear her giggle. So happy, full of joy. "Was that so hard?" I smile and laugh... these were mine... my memories... I can't believe I forgot these memories... they seem so important, because... they _are _important... Music. Dance. Awkward._

_ I hear the chatter of people, I hear Cloud's voice... I hear laughter... I hear Rinoa... I hear music... I feel a hum of joy in this realm of darkness... Hope... Then the memories stop. Right then and there... stop... and vanish... all of those forgotten memories... forever gone... hope, disappeared... Now, instead of Rinoa's previous joyful words and teasing, I her Rinoa's sad, scared pleading... pleading for me to help her... I would _love _to help but... I haven't the slightest idea how... Ansem's study, I remember her saying. Everything is there... I suppose that I have a clue on how to help her now..._

_ But... how do I get out of here? I then feel the searing pain on my forehead... no blood, only a scar... So painful... I then remember... Sora, Donald, Goofy... they're still in reality... they're not with me in the darkness... get me out, I plead. Please... I need to go to the study... I need to know..._

_ "LEON!" I hear Goofy's voice cry._

_ "LEON!" Donald's voice twice as loud._

_ "LEEEEOOOONN!" Sora's voice overpowers the others'._

_ My mind tries to run away but I yank it back. I try bringing it back to reality... I try my hardest to get back, get back to Radiant Garden and escape from the realm of darkness... Yank, pull, yank, pull. My mind is also trying its best... it tries to escape... it wants to watch more memories... so do I, to be honest, but helping Rinoa is more important._

_ I see Rinoa again, this time she's smiling. She's encouraging me to go back to reality and save her... but my mind sees it as temptation, wanting to see her with all the memories... I don't let it... Yank, pull, yank, pull. I'm winning, my mind is coming with me towards the voices of Sora, Donald and Goofy. Rinoa is happy. Happy that I'm trying my best to save her..._

_ "LLEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!" they scream. They're also trying their hardest to bring me back to reality. Thank you, my heart whispers._

_ "Come on, louder, guys," I say to them. _

_ "LEON!"_

_ "Louder."_

_ "HEY WAKE UP! LEON!"_

_ "LOUDER."_

_ "LEON! LEON! LEON! THE OTHER'S ARE HERE! PLEASE! WAKE UP!"_

_ "LOUD ENOUGH TO WAKE ME UP AND GET ME OUT OF THE DARKNESS."_

_ "LEOOONNNNNN!" they scream at the top of their voices. But I can hear others'. I hear Cid, Merlin, Aerith, Yuffie, Cloud and I even hear the Gullwings' voices._

A flash of blinding bright light... I'm back. Back in reality. I sit up and stare at all of them, who seem to be in a state of panic, shock and terror. Thye looked as though they've just seen a ghost.

"You might say that we look like we've just seen a ghost," Yuna said.

"Because we thought we've just seen a ghost of _you_," Rikku added.

I didn't say anything back. All I said was an out-out-breath, "Thank you so much."

**A/N: Okay, so, I _know _I failed with the tenses. 'Coz I kept changing from present tense to past tense but please don't blame me. I'm not a grown-up professional. But I _do _hope that I've done well with this redo chapter. I had trouble with Leon's memories but I SO HOPE that it worked out! :) Please, please, _PLEASE _review! I hope I'm not asking too much out of this not-very-well-done chapter... But I'll be sure to continue ASAP!**


	5. The Process of Remembering

**A/N: Did this chapter take too long? I sure hope not! But if it did, then blame my computer - breaking down and such. Now I have to use my sister's computer (sobs). OK, I'm blabbering. ENJOY! And PS, what you are about to read is a complete spoiler of what you guys have been thinking about. (is Rinoa alive or dead?) ON TO THE STORY!**

(Rinoa's Point of View)

_Darkness… it's everywhere… Squall... 'There's no more library. It's destroyed,' he said… What's he talking about? What library? So far, all there was in the darkness is the sound of his voice and mine… nothing else…_

_He's so close, but I don't know where… I hold the little memory of him so close and so tightly… _

_I wait… I wait in the darkness… I wait for him to speak again… but nothing…it feels like forever… I stand there, floating in the dark abyss… Then I feel movement… A hand, maybe, reaching out… for me? I reach out as well, then I feel something, something cold… the touch feels so familiar… could it be? Could it be Squall? I hold on…I hold on, gripping the hand – or whatever – so tightly, thinking, 'Help me.'_

_ I keep holding onto it, so tightly it hurts. Then I feel it moving, struggling to get out of my strong grip. So I let it go… I loosen my grip and withdraw my hand slowly, disappointedly…Then I see an image come in and go through my mind as quick as lightning… an image… an image of Squall… so many memories…_

_ I then hear my own voice, teasing him. "Come on, Squall! How old are you? You're still a teenager – why don't you act like one for a change?"_

_ I laugh, I laugh at that memory… I remember that, I I see him frown. I laugh again and say aloud, "Y'know. When you start thinking, you tend to smile like this." And I imitate his thinking face._

_ Then I sense pain… _his _pain… I touch my forehead and remember the night… vivid images of that night flitting through my brain… I remember fighting and seeing a Heartless scratch Squall's forehead… I remember seeing it bleed… _

_ Remembering that night scares me… but, I don't remember _much _of that night… what really happened? I hear a scream… A scream so loud I can't hear it… That's it, I'm going insane the darkness, I think. "Silenced," I say._

_ It seems so long… a huge pause… What am I doing here? I wonder. The weirdest part about staying in this realm is that… why am I so calm about everything? I should be freaking out, asking questions to myself and the surrounding darkness… but what am I doing instead? I'm acting like this is a normal thing, it happens to everyone and everything's alright. But I _know _it's the total opposite. God, what's _wrong _with me?_

_ A memory then pops into my strange head. I… I remember dragging Squall into my room and… he says that…_

_ "I really like you, Rinoa," he said._

_ I roll my eyes and remember that I what I said to him. I smile to the thought and repeat it, "Oh, Squall, 'I really like you'. Can't you just say 'I love you'? I can… because I do…"_

_ I then start to trail off… remembering his scent… remembering his touch… remembering him, it's so nice… so nice to remember…_

(Leon's Point of View)

Aerith turned red, fuming with frustration. She then blows up. "SQUALL LEONHART, YOU GAVE US ALL NEAR HEART ATTACKS! And what do you _mean _'thank you'? You fainted in this tiny little – little – little… THIS STUPID, DAMN CRYSTAL FISSURE! WHY'D YOU RUN? We were _TALKING _to you and you just went for the door and RAN! You know how many _times _you almost killed us – by – by SCARING US LIKE THAT?"

I didn't say anything. I shook my head. "You don't understand, Aerith. I keep fainting, but it's not like it's _my _fault, it's not like I _want _to scare you all to death, no. It just happens. It's Rinoa, she's doing this."

Yuffie then yelled at me. "WHO'S THIS RINOA GIRL ANYWAY?" she yelled, annoyed. "Rinoa, Rinoa, Rinoa, that's _all _you talk about these days! You're no fun anymore!"

I scrunched my nose. "I was never fun."

"Yeah you were!" Yuffie cried. "Back in the old days! Back when… when…"

A memory raced through my head, in and out, as quick as lightning. _Rinoa, fighting with us… in this castle... _"Back when Rinoa was here."

"I don't remember any Rinoa," Sora said, scratching his head.

"Me neither," Cloud said. "She was never there, Leon. …was she?"

"NO!" Yuffie cried quickly.

"Yes, she was," I said, insisting that Rinoa _was _there. Because she was, I know it. She was always there. What happened? Why did we forget? "We all just forgot. And she's calling out. Calling out…to me, in these dreams. No, they're not dreams. They're memories. She really wants me – us, to find her. She's stuck in the darkness for all these years! And she couldn't get out! She's still in there – we need to find her."

They stared. They stared like I was mad and going insane. I ignored them. Rinoa's counting on me.

So I rushed out to my house, grabbed my gunblade (for safety reasons) and ran to the castle. I ran through into the postern and through the many corridors. I then went into the big, creamish door leading to Ansem's study. It was messy, as usual. The scribbles about the 'D.T.D.' was still there, together with the many findings about the human heart and so on. I through all the dusty, untouched bookshelves and even the one with the huge cobweb. Then, all of a sudden,

"Hey, Squall," said a voice from behind me. My heart first thinks of Rinoa, but then I recognise her voice. It's Yuffie.

"You're fast," I said plainly. "And by the way, it's Leon."

She ignored this. "I might have something that will be of use," Yuffie said, holding a huge, green, dusty book in her right hand.

I turned around to look at her.

She handed me the book and I take it, huffing as I drop it onto the floor. I sat down on the floor and dust off the book to see the title. When all the dust has been cleared, I can see big golden letters reading, 'RADIANT GARDEN RESIDENCE.' And underneath has small letters in brackets saying, 'All residents – either new or old – shall be listed in this book. This book also keeps all the important documents, etc of Radiant Garden. DO NOT STEAL.'

I opened it and flip to the letter 'R' and I don't find anything. I can't even find Gullwing Rikku in there anywhere.

"Maybe they're sorting it by last names?" Yuffie suggested. I nod and go for the letter H. As I flip, I can find Gainsborough, Gullwing, Kisaragi, Leonhart (ha, ha), Lockhart and Strife. Damn, I thought. This is the letter S. I flipped back and I finally find Highwind, which is followed by pale, smudgy, faded out letters spelling out:

'He i ly, in a'

Then Yuffie reads aloud, slowly, as if a small child reading a big, scientific word. "He…ee… li…ina… HEILY, INA!"

"Heartilly, Rinoa," I snap.

I looked at the page. It's all smudged. I sighed deeply.

"Hey, remember Zack Fair?" Yuffie said all of a sudden, interrupting my sigh. I turn to see her bending down, looking at nothing in particular. Then her eyes looked at me and she said, "What? You don't remember?"

"I do," I said. "He was a friend of Cloud's."

"Search for Fair, Zack, will you?" Yuffie said.

"He was never really a resident here, he lived in another world –"

"- Yeah, I know. Olympus Coliseum, we went there. But he also came here for a _while_. That's how he and Cloud became _friends_!"

"But -"

"It says there on the cover, 'all residents – either new or old – shall be listed in this book'! Now, go search for Fair, Zack!" Yuffie insisted.

I roll my eyes and flip to the letter 'F' and then at last, 'Fair, Zack'. Just like Rinoa's page, it was all smudgy. I pause, then say, "Odd. Why are their pages like this?"

Yuffie stared at it for a second then ran off. I wanted to call out to her but I didn't. Instead, I just sighed and continued to stare at Zack's smudgy page. A few minutes later, Yuffie's head popped up from the edge of the door. He beamed at me and then walked in, followed by Merlin.

"What is it, Yuffie?" Merlin asked as he walked behind the joyful, skipping Yuffie. She then grabbed the book from the floor and showed it to Merlin.

"Why are Zack's and Rinoa's pages all smudged up and look like they've been soaking wet?" Yuffie asked.

Merlin examined it for a while then said, "Ah, yes. This book has _magical properties_. You see, it lists every single person who has stayed here – not nesecarilly _live _here, just staying here would even have your name recorded. And if that person leaves Radiant Garden, or dies, then their page would look like this."

"So…" Yuffie paused, trying to think of a decent way of saying it, but there really wasn't any. "Rinoa's…?"

"I am very sorry, Leon," Merlin said, putting his hand on my shoulder but I pushed him off. No, Rinoa is _alive_. She has to be, she _is_, I told myself. She's alive. She is, she is, she's just lost. She _left_, she didn't die, she left, she's in the Realm of Darkness, I saw her, I heard her, I _felt _her.

I got up, still determined to find the one by the name, Rinoa Heartilly. "No," I said, without even looking at them. "She's alive. I know she is. She has to be."

"Leoonnn!" Yuffie whined like a little child. "You have to stop making this illusion -"

I turn, so frustrated, so angry. "What is _with_ all of you? You guys aren't even trying! You don't know – no, you _knew! _You all just forgot and you pretend as if she doesn't exist at all! Now, you see her page is like this – she _left_! She's not _dead! _She's in the Realm of Darkness! Like Riku was! Remember Sora kept trying to find him? He wasn't dead either, he was in the darkness! Zack Fair is still alive! He just left! Same goes for Rinoa! She's _ALIVE!_"

They stare at me.

"The least you could do is _try_," I said, giving the final blow.

I take the book and walk out the door. I want to find you now, I thought. I need to find you now. Then Yuffie catches up to me before I walk out the door.

"Least _you_ could do is tell us _how _to try, Leon," she said.

I smiled the first smile in a very, very, _very _long time. I then turned around to face her, causing her to smile as well.

"Haven't seen that in a while," she grinned.

"Neither have I," Merlin said, following us with a big grin under his moustache.

_"Squall…" _ said a voice inside my head.

Rinoa, I thought. And I immediately feel warmth inside my body. It's not mine – it's her's. That sounds so wrong, I thought. But we were now connected, and I was glad about it.

* * *

I went to bed that night feeling that I've accomplished _something_ – I succeeded in getting Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud, Cid, Merlin, Sora, Donald and Goofy to _try _helping. Not the best friends, I said to myself when I thought about it before going to bed. But I shrugged it off.

I still felt guilty since I _forgot _someone I loved so much. How's that even possible? Well, I suppose it's because of the Heartless, I tried to reason with myself. Damn, I'm so horrible.

A strange shiver went down my spine. It felt so weird and out of place. Like… it was there, but wasn't… Is Rinoa _inside _me…? Again, so wrong. A girl in a guy's body. I shook the image out of my head.

I went to sleep, glad I didn't _faint _before doing so. When I went to sleep, I started to dream of old memories. The same dream as before… the first one, the one that started them all.

_"Squall,help me!" cried the voice – Rinoa's voice._

_ "I'm coming!" I called back. "Hold on!"_

_ "SQUALL!" she cried, getting desperate._

_ I rushed through Radiant Garden, following her voice. Slashing Heartless after Heartless after Heartless as I ran. "WHERE?" I cried, looking around as I slashed little Shadows in my way._

_ I couldn't hear the full sentence. All I could hear was "…MAW!"_

_ Great Maw, I said under my breath. Then I saw more black coming my way. I was about to attack it but luckily, I didn't – it was Cloud._

_ "Squall, go!" he cried, killing about a dozen at once with his large bandage-covered sword. "I'll cover you – GO!"_

_ I nodded and ran through the path cleared for me. _

_ As I pushed my through the growing number of Heartless, Cloud called to me, "Hey, by the way – have you seen Aerith anywhere?"_

_ "Castle gates with the ninja kid! Uh - Yuffie," I called back, slashing everything that came in my way, now frustrated by the ever growing number of surrounding darkness. "She's fine! Cid's with her too! Go to them and get on the Gummi ship!"_

_ "What about you, hot shot?" he shouted sarcastically as he attacked everything coming his way._

_ "I'm getting Rinoa!" I yelled, running to the Great Maw._

_ "No heroics, yeah?" he cried._

_ "Same to you!" I cried back and hurriedly ran for Rinoa. When I reached the Great Maw, there was really _nothing _except for the huge mass of darkness everywhere. And parts of the darkness had glowing, yellow eyes who were actually Heartless trying to grab onto me._

_ I pushed them off and yelled, "RINOA! RINOA! WHERE-ARE-YOU?"_

_ "OVER HERE!" a voice shrieked. "SQUAAALL! HELP!"_

_ I tried to run over but that was definitely _impossible_. The huge mounds of Heartless were crawling over me and pulling and tugging me, slowing me down very much. But what was on me was really _nothing_ compared to what was on Rinoa._

_ She was slowly disappearing into the darkness. All I could see from where I was was her arm, sticking out in desperation._

_ She shrieked again. "SQUALL! HELP!"_

_ "Hold on! I – I'm coming!" I cried, slightly losing hope._

_ Her arm was slowly sinking. I couldn't let this happen. I held onto my Gunblade as tightly as possible and pulled it out of the darkness with all of my strength and forcefully slashed the Heartlessin my way. But the more I fought, the more they came. After I slashed a dozen, about twenty or so will come to take the others' places. _

_ I groaned. Then I realized that Rinoa hadn't said anything. Oh, no._

_ "RINOA! RINOA!"_

_ "I… I'm here…!" Rinoa's voice is growing weaker and weaker._

_ "D- DON'T LOSE HOPE! I'M COMING! I'LL SAVE YOU! I PROMISE!" I cried. But I, too, was losing hope. Then I heard a loud engine coming from above. I looked up and saw Cid's Gummi ship was the source of it. They lowered the ship and a little girl's head stuck out._

_ "Squall!" Yuffie cried. "Need a hand?"_

_ "Please," I said, taking her hand. "Cid –"_

_ "I'm getting Rinoa," he cut me off, turning the ship a little and going forwards to Rinoa's direction._

_ I popped my head out the door and looked down to see Rinoa's face was all that's left._

_ "GUYS!" she cried._

_ "Rinoa!" Yuffie cried back. "Don't worry! We gotcha!"_

_ She lowered her hand as far as it could go but her arm – as well as her hand – just ended up scratched and bleeding a little. When Aerith saw this, she quickly came to the young girl's aid but Yuffie quickly cast Cure on herself and pushed Aerith away, wanting to help._

_ "The Heartless are all over the ship!" Cid's voice cried from inside._

_ I tried instead. I lowered my hand and Rinoa lifted her's again, hoping to get it this time. Almost… I thought, still stretching out my hand. Almost… Then a stupid dark bug came in the way and broke us off._

_ "RINOA!" I bellowed._

_ "S- S- S- " she was cut off when she got swallowed by the darkness._

_ The last thing I saw was a glimpse of the caramel streaks in her hair and then… nothing but the Heartless swarming over her. "NO!" I yelled. I wanted to jump off. I wanted to jump off and _overkill _the stupid, pesky Heartless that came in the way. I felt so angry. I felt so frustrated._

_ I felt like something was missing._

_ "WHERE'S CLOUD?" I asked suddenly and I turned around, seeing that I snapped a very sad Aerith and Yuffie out of their thoughts._

_ Aerith's eyes were teary. She quickly turned away, not wanting to us to see her cry. I could hear her sniffles. …Cloud was gone as well. I dropped down to the chair next to Yuffie's._

_ I couldn't believe it. My closest friend, the girl that I loved so much – gone. All gone. I couldn't save them – I couldn't save my home world. I messed up. It felt that it was all my fault. It was._

_ Then Yuffie turned to me. "It's not your fault. It's the Heartless," she told me, but even she couldn't deny that she felt very guilty. "…Squall…"_

_I sat up straight, setting a new goal in life. "…" I didn't say anything. Now my goal was this: defeat the Heartless once and for all. And make them – or whoever is behind this – pay. Then I spoke, "It's Leon."_

_ Yuffie gasped silently but didn't say anything. She stared at me._

_ "Leon," she said. "Leon. Leon. _LEON!"

I woke up and yet again, I was startled when the now eighteen-year-old Yuffie woke me up.

"Same dream," I told her, breathless.

"Huh?" she said, giving me a puzzled look. But before I could say anything, she grabbed my shirt that hung on a chair by near the door and threw it at me. I quickly grabbed it. "Put on a shirt first. Then explain."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. But I did as she told anyway, putting my shirt on. Then I started to tell her; I told her everything that happened to me in the Realm of Darkness and when I faint; I told her what happened it my dreams that were actually memories. I told her darn right everything. Even though I wanted to tell all this to Cloud first, I told Yuffie first.

She sat down on the chair where my shirt hung before, listening intently as she did so. When he finished, she didn't say anything at first. She thought for a moment, then spoke. "We all knew her, those aren't dreams but memories, and we were all friends…" she said slowly, putting the pieces together. "So… how are we supposed to get her out anyway?"

I shook my head, not looking at Yuffie. "I really don't know, Yuffie. I really don't."

Then Yuffie turned around to face the small table in front of the chair she sat on. On the table was my jacket. She picked it up and looked at the back of it. There were red wings on it.

"How'd these get here, Leon?" Yuffie asked suddenly, juts curious about it.

I saw at what she was looking at – my jacket. "Rinoa," I said simply. "It's all coming back to me now… she touched it and put it there… to make us remember."

"Well, I feel like the most cruel person on earth," she said, blowing hair out of her face.

"Same here," I said. And there was a pause. I broke the silence by saying, "Now give me my keys, Yuffie."

She pouted but threw my lost keys towards me and I put it in my bedside table drawer. "And maybe you should get out of my house now."

She giggled nervously and slid out the door. "Want me to tell Cloud?" she cried from down the hall.

"I'll tell him myself," I said as I got up and slammed the door shut right after calling after Yuffie, "And please don't come in again without my permission – it's weird."

"Sorry!" I heard her say once I closed my room door.

* * *

I wasn't very surprised when I walked in on Cloud and Aerith flirting with each other at the Dark Depths. Actually, not surprised at all.

"Aerith, can I speak with Cloud for a moment?" I said coolly, as if this happens everyday. Well, nowadays, it sort of _does._

Aerith turned scartlet but didn't say anything; she nodded and quickly went off, leaving both of us alone. Cloud, too turned a little red and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Cloud, the same dream," I said immediately.

He gave me the same look Yuffie did after I told her.

I sighed and started to tell him everything I told Yuffie – but a little more detailed. I told him what I _felt _in the Realm of Darkness. I told him about how I wanted to kiss her and how I felt her holding my arm so tightly and the sudden pain from my scar.

When I finished, I took a deep breath and there was a pause. A pause for Cloud to put it together.

Then he spoke. "Hm… This is… _interesting_. You wanted to kiss someone you barely knew – but that's not true." I gave him the same look he gave me before. "These are memories – I thought you knew that already. These are _memories,_ not dreams. Memories."

That's when it hit me - I said it before too, but I didn't even realize it. _A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory. A far-off memory that's like a scattered dream. I want to line the pieces up - your's, and mine._

**A/N: WOOTS. 4, 274 WORDS BABEYH! OK, any hoo, how'd you like this chapter? Reviews? Please? With a cherry on top? WHERE'S MY REVIEWS, PEOPLE! Anyways, I was contemplating this morning about this: if Rinoa came to Kingdom Hearts, would she call Leon _Squall _or _Leon? _Probably Leon, right? Meh, please tell me what you think! (SHALL UPDATE WITH CHAPTER 6 IN A FEW MINUTES heheheheheh)**


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